Introduction to Film

"Introduction to Film" is the third episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community. It aired in the United States on NBC on October 1, 2009.

Plot

Jeff (Joel McHale) convinces the rest of the study group to enroll in an easy, blow-off class, taught by the eccentric Eustice Whitman (John Michael Higgins). Whitman claims that they will all get A's as long as they follow the mantra of carpe diem. Whitman, however, informs Jeff in private that he sees him as an opportunist, and that if Jeff doesn't seize the day by the end of the week, Whitman will fail him. Jeff attempts to impress Whitman with spontaneous actions, such as wearing rainbow-colored suspenders or flying a kite, but Whitman considers these poor attempts.

Meanwhile, Abed (Danny Pudi) is unable to join the rest of the group in the class as he is required by his father Gobi (Iqbal Theba) to take classes to help the family's failing falafel stand. Britta (Gillian Jacobs) encourages Abed to follow his heart, and gives him money to enroll in filmmaking classes, his true desire. Abed purchases a new camera and starts to document conversations with the study group, confusingly casting Britta as his mother and Jeff as his father. Gobi accosts Britta for encouraging his son. Britta and Jeff explain their problems to each other, and Jeff promises that he will convince Gobi to meet with him, Britta, and Abed to discuss Abed's future.

As Abed works on his computer, Gobi, Jeff, and Britta get into an argument, but Abed soon interrupts them, wanting to show them his completed video. In it, he has used his footage of Jeff and Britta arguing, superimposing the images of his parents' heads onto their bodies; the film is cut to recast the study group's conversations as Abed's parents' opinions of him, as an abnormal child who refuses to let his parents parent him, before implying that Abed's parents had a divorce because of his atypical behavior. Jeff and Britta are confused, but Gobi finds the film to be emotionally heartening, and allows Abed to continue his film-making studies as his best chance for being understood. Britta thanks Jeff for his help and, noticing Whitman nearby, kisses Jeff in public. The action is seen by Whitman who declares it a "life-changing kiss" and asserts Jeff has finally seized the day.

End Tag

In this episode, the credits feature Abed asking Troy whether his dance moves could pass as krumping. Troy repeatedly says "no" before he finally stands up and shows him how to really krump. As they are dancing foolishly, Jeff walks in and asks them what they are doing. They stop dancing and say that they are krumping. This prompts Jeff to drop his book, tell them that is not krumping, and show them how it's done. The scene ends with the three of them doing their own interpretations of krumping in the study room.

Reception

Around 5.86 million Americans watched "Introduction to Film".^[1]

Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club rated the episode B, calling it the weakest episode of Community so far, but divulging that he was falling hard for the show. He criticized the "heavy-handed" messages of the episode, arguing that Jeff's professor's Dead Poets Society shtick was too much, but moved by the conclusion in which Abed and his father reach an understanding.^[2]

References

External links

• "Introduction to Film" at NBC.com
• "Introduction to Film" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Introduction to Film" at TV.com
• "Introduction to Film" at TV Tropes